Aspen Logging – Grazing Conflict in the Dawson Creek TSA

In April 2011, a retired agrologist from Dawson Creek filed a complaint concerning the harvesting of mature aspen stands in the Peace River area.

Aspen stands naturally regenerate by suckering from live roots that remain after harvesting. However, within three to five years, regenerated aspen stands are so dense that they can become unusable for cattle grazing. Forage availability and grazing opportunities on areas harvested gradually starts to improve after 30 years of self-thinning.

The complainant stated that Louisiana Pacific Canada Ltd (LP) was not implementing recommended mitigation strategies contained in the Draft Guidelines for Timber and Range Mitigation and, as a result, the impact on many grazing tenures (including his own) in the South Peace area, and within LP’s operating area, was greater than it should be.